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Author Topic: Movies for Home Viewing  (Read 77258 times)

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Royal☭

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #480 on: July 08, 2010, 06:33:33 PM »

Klaatu is a such a Christ symbol.  Hell, he adopts the name Carpenter and dies while trying to establish peace on Earth.  It's kind of central to what the character and the film are about.  That said, I prefer to pretend the line about ressurection being reserved for the Almighty spirit doesn't exist.  It's incongruous with the rest of the film, and was apparently inserted to make the censor happy.

patito

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #481 on: July 08, 2010, 09:32:38 PM »

You know, there's at least 3 movies where Keanu Reeves plays the role of Jesus, so I guess his casting on the remake was spot on at least.
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Mothra

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #482 on: July 09, 2010, 06:40:48 AM »

That said, I prefer to pretend the line about ressurection being reserved for the Almighty spirit doesn't exist.  It's incongruous with the rest of the film, and was apparently inserted to make the censor happy.

Yeah, this was mentioned as well. Again, he seemed evasive about the whole thing, so I got the feeling that while he didn't initially want the line in there, he didn't mind too much that it was inserted.

It just sucks because in one line he reveals that his hyper-advanced civilization still has religion, and it is evidently exactly the same as ours. It implies that they limit what they themselves attempt if it might seem like something abstractly not in their realm of power (resurrecting the dead). In sci-fi, especially then, it's a limiting factor on something that was supposed to open your mind.
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teg

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #483 on: July 15, 2010, 04:56:20 PM »

Continuing in my unintentional (now intentional) quest to watch every major version of Dracula.

Bram Stoker's Dracula aka the Francis Ford Coppola version:
Wow. Isn't this a director most people like? Isn't this a story most people like? What happened?
The film is an awful, disjointed mess. There is no focus. It schizophrenically switches back and forth between a period piece, a romance, and an action movie; with shades of everything else in-between. The scene transitions are rapid, unexpected, and make no sense. Two or three characters may act as narrators in a span of five minutes. Far too many characters are entirely forgettable but nonetheless won't go away (why does whatsherface need three boyfriends and why do all of them have to be introduced in less than a minute and then stay throughout the ENTIRE MOVIE?). The closest thing we have to a main character among the dozens of glorified bit parts is Dracula himself, and we can't keep track of him. He's prone to disappearing for long periods of time, and when he does show up you're not sure what he's going to look like. I counted at least seven humanoid forms, plus countless animals.
Blagh I'm sure some people love this movie so I'm just going to shut up. The effects are decent, at least, as are the costumes. If it just had more focus I might have loved it.

Blacula:
You know, if this weren't so grounded in the seventies, it would actually be a legitimately good addition to the Dracula story. The plot is sound and Mamuwaldi himself (who is only called Blacula once, by the way!) is surprisingly believable. The only problem is... well, it was the seventies. With a name like "Blacula" you can expect a lot of embarassing attempts at racial tension, even when it doesn't make a lot of sense (the two prominent police officers seem to be a good team except for the accusations of racism that come out of nowhere), and there's a wholly unnecessary amount of homophobia present. Also, most of the major characters spend literally every night at a disco and/or sport giant afros and ridiculous outfits.
It's a delicate mix of incredibly cringe-inducing and legitimately good. I guess that's pretty good for a blaxploitation film.

The Brave Little Toaster:
THERE GOES THE SUN
HERE COMES THE NIGHT
SOMEBODY TURN ON THE LIII-IIIGHT

I decided to watch this since I realized that I had never actually seen the whole thing. On the surface, there's some problems. The voice actors playing the humans are atrocious, some of the character designs seem poorly-planned, and a lot of the song lyrics seem to have been determined by scrambling for words that rhyme ("he will put the voodoo in the stew"? What?) Underneath, though, it's a great film that tackles territory that kids' films don't dare to tread with a good deal of subtlety. I miss the days when Disney had the guts to make something like this. The film feels like an experiment to make the most basic, dehumanized characters ever (only Kirby has a name, the toaster and the blanket both have indeterminate genders, and the radio doesn't ever have a face), and then have the audience nonetheless feel for them while all these awful things happen to them.
Given that Toy Story 3 was very clearly inspired by this film's overwhelming sense of hopelessness and the fear of confronting one's own mortality, and how dark Disney seems to be getting lately*, I'd like to think that this film might get a bit more attention soon.
(secretly, I'd love to see a modern remake of this that fixes up the handful of issues I have with it)

*For one thing, there's Epic Mickey. For another, the rereleases this year include Dumbo, Fantasia, and The Black Cauldron; all infamous for scaring the shit out of kids. Plus, y'know, making their own horror imprint and getting Guillermo Del Fucking Toro to make a bunch of horror movies for kids.
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Büge

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #484 on: July 15, 2010, 04:58:22 PM »

The Brave Little Toaster was Dracula?
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teg

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #485 on: July 15, 2010, 05:07:25 PM »

It's like a movie; it's a B-Movie show.


also you guys the Donnie Darko Blu-Ray is basically perfect. If you enjoy the film at all*, this is the version to get. It's incredibly cheap (I got it for nine bucks) and includes pretty much everything you could ever want concerning Donnie Darko.


*I like it because I'm the kind of art school douchebag who loves films that use too many recurring themes
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Mongrel

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #486 on: July 15, 2010, 06:32:14 PM »

Also, most of the major characters spend literally every night at a disco and/or sport giant afros and ridiculous outfits.

This is not in fact a wholly inaccurate depiction of the late 70's
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Brentai

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #487 on: July 15, 2010, 08:00:25 PM »

Wow. Isn't this a director most people like? Isn't this a story most people like? What happened?

Coppola either hits huge or misses huge.  Dracula in particular is bookmarked on one end by Jack and on the other by Godfather Part III and Captain EO.

As for the story, most people are bigger fans of Bela Lugosi's VLAH VLAH VLAH Dracula vs. the original Dracula, World's Worst Prospective Homebuyer.
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Thad

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #488 on: July 15, 2010, 09:52:52 PM »

The Oldman Dracula was neither.  As I noted a couple years back, he's pretty much Frank-N-Furter played straight.

I think Christopher Lee was probably the most straight-up version of the book's character (though the Hammer version of the story is the farthest off) of any version I've seen.

But I still haven't gotten around to the Langella version.  I really should, because I just love the career progression of Dracula -> Skeletor -> Nixon.
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Royal☭

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #489 on: July 17, 2010, 10:12:21 PM »

Let the Right One In is eerie, engaging and morally ambiguous.  The story's premise is about an 11-year-old boy, Oskar, who meets a 12-year-old vampire, Eli, who has just moved into his apartment complex.  On the surface it's an inversion of vampire films, portraying the typical villains as innocent children and following their entanglement, while the victims are kept in the background, even as Eli slowly destroys their lives.

But it's in this way that director Tomas Alfredson explores the darkness of coming of age, the crossing over from childhood to brutal adulthood.  Out the outset of the film Oskar fantasies about using a knife to frighten, torture and kill the bullies who torment him at school.  When Eli shows up, it's almost as if the two have the rapport of sociopaths, and they find camaraderie in the alienation and anger they both have bubbling beneath the surface.  Even though she doesn't express the blunt evil of most movie vampires, Eli suffers no qualms or doubts about having to kill to feed, which is ironic considering the almost innocent way she conducts her relationship with Eli.  She barely even seems to be aware of the impact she has the lives of the loved ones of the victims, who grow to hate her even as she just considers them detritus in their need to feed.

The film works overall, mostly because of the sound design that leaves thing sparse and empty, as though great chasms exist between conversations and any noise could break the stability of the lives portrayed.  There is one scene around the middle, though, involving CGI cats that hits a kind of false note and was just too goofy for me to take seriously.  It was an attempt at something more action-oriented that just felt out of place with the slow, methodical nature of the film.  It also reminded me more than a little bit of Peter Jackson's Dead Alive.

I recommend seeing it if you want a tight, well made horror film.  It film definitely has moments, and while not especially challenging should delight and give several thrills.  Also, the America remake just looks balls nasty:

Let Me In International trailer

Lottel

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #490 on: July 18, 2010, 12:55:38 AM »

So the two Wal-mart's in the area are selling a lot more movies lately. And apparently are having a bunch of sales. I bought a few blu-rays and a couple other movies for $5-15 a piece. And the complete Firefly collection for $20. So that's pretty sweet. A have a lot of stuff to watch, then, I guess.
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Büge

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #491 on: July 18, 2010, 01:23:56 PM »

I watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney version) the other day. It's a beautiful film. Definitely deserves its place among the great Disney animated movies. The sets are colourful and lushly painted and the characters are all well-designed. There are a few things in particular I'd like to address. First of all, Best Villain Song Ever. All of the songs in the movie are great, but Hellfire is the crown jewel. Tony Jay is surely serenading angels in heaven with that one. Second, if they'd gotten rid of the gargoyles, the film would have been twice as good. The sidekick problem also drags down Mulan and Hercules. Third, they seem to build up a romance between Quasimodo and Esmerelda and then toss it aside. I don't understand why. But that does lead to my fourth point: Quasimodo fits so many nerd stereotypes it's scary. He's a lonely shut-in that builds miniatures, is mocked by outsiders and ends up friendzoned by a pretty girl. High school flashbacks aside, it's a good movie.
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McDohl

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #492 on: July 18, 2010, 02:03:50 PM »

Yeah, I'm totally gay for that movie, Buge.
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Disposable Ninja

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #493 on: July 19, 2010, 04:19:25 PM »

I watched Dead Alive. It's... in a league of it's own. Yeah.
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Royal☭

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #494 on: July 19, 2010, 05:04:26 PM »

I KICK ASS FOR THE LORD!

Büge

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #495 on: July 19, 2010, 05:39:12 PM »

I watched Dead Alive. It's... in a league of it's own. Yeah.

At first I thought you said Dead or Alive, which also would have made sense.
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Ted Belmont

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #496 on: July 19, 2010, 06:28:24 PM »

A Boy and His Dog is really fucking weird.
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Beat Bandit

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #497 on: July 19, 2010, 07:19:06 PM »

A Boy and His Dog is really fucking weird.
Yes
I watched Dead Alive. It's... in a league of it's own. Yeah.
yes
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Disposable Ninja

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #498 on: July 19, 2010, 07:21:35 PM »

I keep thinking about the over-embalming scene when I'm eating.
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teg

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Re: Movies for Home Viewing
« Reply #499 on: July 31, 2010, 09:07:35 AM »

Kick-Ass
Okay, so:
This movie is about furiously humping Quentin Tarantino's leg by seeing how many inappropriate musical accompaniments and obscure (but not TOO obscure!) popular culture references you can cram in wherever possible.

No, wait! This movie is about taking nobody knowing how to film a fucking action sequence so they take shakycam and slo-mo to their logical extreme by having an FPS sequence followed immediately by a sequence shot entirely under strobe light.

No, wait! It's a film about how some guy who buys a suit on EBAY and gets caught on video on an IPHONE that goes up on YOUTUBE and makes him famous so he sets up his superhero self on TWITTER and MYSPACE on his MACBOOK while he watches FAMILY GUY and talks about it on SKYPE and he gets to be with the girl he likes and they watch UGLY BETTY and read SHOUJO BEAT and SCOTT PILGRIM but oh no he's going to die and he'll never get to see the LOST finale but fortunately the day is saved by another thing someone else bought on EBAY.

No, wait! It's a movie about being internally inconsistent by being about a guy who decides to be a superhero even though he's totally average except okay he can't feel pain and his bones are mostly reinforced by metal plates and by the end he has a bazooka and a jetpack with gatling guns mounted onto it but he's still average you guys.

No, wait. Maybe it's just about piecing together things people like right now and not actually being a good movie.
Kick-Ass is not a good movie in 2010. It will be even worse in five years when nobody has a fucking clue what anyone's talking about.



...Also I really admire the way Big Daddy conceals his identity by making a single, professionally-crafted comic book adaptation of his own origin story, with his own likeness in it, and leaving it inside of his secret lair. Which he leaves unlocked. With the door open.
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